Dental-floss spool.



A. J. HOLMES.

DENTAL FLOS$ SPOOL.-

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 15, 1908.

944,992, Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR J. HOLMES, 0F ROCKVILLE, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO IBELDING BROTHERS & CO.

DENTAL-FLOSS SPOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. HOLMES, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Rockville, in the county of Tolland and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dental- Floss Spools, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to dental floss spools and it consists in certain details of construction to be more fully set forth in the following specification.

To enable others to understand my invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the spool and cop; Fig. 2 is a detail central sectional view of the cop; Fig. 8 is a plan view of the spool; Fig. 4 is a detail view of the cap of the spool; Fig. 5 is a detail plan View of the cap; and Fig. 6 is a central sectional view of the spool and modified construction of the box.

The spool comprises the cap 1 and box 2 whose straight outer walls'a and b are adapted to frictionally engage each other. In Fig. 1 the sides of both the box and cap are inwardly inclined or tapered down to the recesses l and 2 which recesses form the cen tral straight portions or meeting faces 1 and 2* adapted to form a frictional contact with the floss presently to be described.

3 is a cop of floss shaped to fill the spool and adapted to deliver from its central core through the hole 4 of the box, and when not required is carried around the lip 5, formed from and part of the central portion of the box, and is broken off by such lip.

The modified construction shown at Fig. 6 is precisely like that shown except that one side of the box is made straight instead of tapering.

The advantage to be derived from the inclined side or sides of the cop and spool is that the cop, delivering from the center, will not fall down during the process of unwinding or become tangled or knotted up.

Passing the floss between the meeting faces of the central portions of the box and cap will exert such a tension on the thread as will prevent a too free delivery and a consequent loss of material.

The cop of floss is so completely incased by the cap and box of the spool that there can be no unsanitary contact with it, either when being handled or carried in the pocket. The cops can be wound and sold separately, and when the spool is empty the cap can be easily removed and a fresh cop readily inserted.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The herein described improvement in dental floss spools adapted to hold a cop of floss comprising a box having a stralght outer wall, a straight outer wall cap registering therewith, the interior of the cap and box adapted to conform to the cop of floss, said cap and box having a central depression to form straight meeting faces and thereby exert a tension on the thread delivered from the cop, one of said straight faces having a delivery hole therethrough and at one side of its center, and a fastening lip for the thread, for the purpose set forth.

2. A dental floss spool adapted to hold a cop of floss comprising a straight outer wall box and cap'adapted to register with each other, the interior of said box and cap shaped to conform to the cop of floss, the central portion of the sides of both cap and box having a depression whose bottoms form meeting faces to exert a frictional contact with the delivery thread of the cop, one of said meeting faces having a thread delivery hole, for the purpose set forth.

Signed at Rockville in the county of Tolland and State of Connecticut this third day of August A. D. 1908.

ARTHUR J. HOLMES.

Witnesses:

P. B. LEONARD, C. F. HOLMES. 

